R.I.P. Toys R Us

I knew it got it’s start in the D.C. area, went to Wikipedia and the first store was the bldg that houses Madam Organs blues bar.

Ok my mind has just been BLOWN!!! :lol

I am not EVEN going to post what I have seen and done in that joint!


Small world. I would shop there back when I was working in Falls Church for my children. This has been a very long time coming. Not much variety and very poor service. Nothing could ever replace the feeling of getting to go to TRU in the 70's and 80's. That was just the best feeling. Loved loading up on Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Transformers. Back then, it seemed like they had it all.
 
Hah, Tysons Corner for me...

sniff sniff

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So my funniest TRUS story comes in Jan 91... It was about a week before my 7th birthday and I had just been pushed down a flight of stairs and had my head cracked open and several stitches in it. My dad decided as an early birthday present I should get my SNES a week early... My older brother and I each got to pick one game for it my older brother picked Mortal Kombat the original to which my mother strictly forbid, of course she forgot to mention this to my dad.

So she comes home from work about 2 hours after we had hooked up said SNES and been playing Mortal Kombat, sees my bloody shirt and stitches decides to try to get MK returned.

So she drags me and my older brother kicking in screaming into TRUS trying to return it to which they at the time had a "no return policy"... My mother gets a manager shows her me in my still bloody school shirt and my head and claims "Mortal Kombat did this to my son thanks to his brother" With no hesitation from management they refund her the money for it on the spot
 
LOL! That's a great story! :)

We have a TRU division in Germany. I got a few of the rarest TLJ figures early in February and for a good price (C'ai Threnalli and 2 R2s). Customer service was excellent (I had to return something twice because of bad paint apps - no probs, I even got the shipping costs back). I'm wondering what will happen to the stores here.
 
I spent more time browsing at Toys R Us than buying anything as a kid. I did get my first lightsaber there, one of the fat neck Luke ROTJ sabers. The other standout toys I got from there were a Nerf Defender T3 and a Hasbro DL-44 and stormtrooper blaster. There was also lots of window shopping for video games (didn't have a console of our own for a while) and especially those electric cars for kids!

I'll miss Toys R Us even though I haven't been there in years. It was always such a treat to visit, even when we didn't come home with anything.
 
I took my sons to our local TRU yesterday and used up all our coupons and gift cards. The store was busy for a Thursday and nearly everyone was doing the same thing. I loved TRU but in the last 5 years or so the writing was on the wall. They had a tough time keeping the store stocked and there was a fair amount of employee turnover. I will miss them.

On a bright note, there is a chance that the Canadian TRU division will survive as they are in much better shape and are operated at a unique company.
 
On a bright note, there is a chance that the Canadian TRU division will survive as they are in much better shape and are operated at a unique company.

Fingers crossed, was there with the kids last night and there was no indication that anything was wrong (not that that means anything).
 
Yeah... there's no Target here as a direct competitor and the the deals on toys aren't as great on Amazon.ca as they are on .com... not as much competition...
 
Except for Wal Mart and Target, it's a wasteland around me. The closest hobby shop caters more to the radio control and skate board crowd than modelers. The only brite spots are the Michael's and Hobby Lobby stores which have opened in the last couple of years.

David.

Same here. I guess radio controlled stuff must be more popular now or something. At least they have basic stuff like glue, paint, hobby knives, etc. We have a Hobby Lobby, which is okay for general supplies and occasionally some kits. We did have a HobbyTown USA, which was great, but it only lasted a couple of years. The best hobby shop ever was Toy Train & Hobby, but it went out of business about 20 something years ago.
 
Pretty sad.

Online sellers are killing retailers who do not have a robust online competitive presence (think the demise of Blockbuster by NETFLIX).

In addition, toys themselves (at least those NOT collected by nostalgia-driven adults who are 80% of the market for action figures) are a slowly dying and antiquated item held-over from the 20th century I am afraid. Kids play with IPads (and other VR devices) from age 2 and up more than than they handle imagination-driven physical "toys". Kids do not play with action figures and play sets, etc.

Below is a well-done video on the TRU history and debacle:

 
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Its a trade off. The internet, Amazon, Ebay gets us the lowest possible price shipped for free. Then the brick and mortar store store closes and we wonder why? Online buying has its pitfalls. Not complaining...I love to save money, but I also dont pretend to ignore the affects. Its evolution like the Sears Catalogue was king pre 1950. The catalogue died and now Sears is on the ropes.
 
I buy from both Amazon and Ebay but there are just things that I have to see and and really look at, including trying on clothes, that you just can't do online. I recently ordered a pair of jeans online that were supposed to be the same exact ones that I had bought at a store a year or so ago and they were completely different which you could not tell from the pictures or description.
 
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Yeah, pants and shoes are two things I really have a problem with ordering online. Those are two things I definitely need to try on before buying.
 
I don't wanna grow up.
I'm a Toys R Us kid.
They've got a million toys at Toys R Us that I can play with.
From bikes to trains to video games it's the best toy store there is.
I don't wanna grow up because, baby, if I did,
I wouldn't be a Toys R Us kid.






... but today I shop online with Amazon and eBay.
 
Its a trade off. The internet, Amazon, Ebay gets us the lowest possible price shipped for free. Then the brick and mortar store store closes and we wonder why? Online buying has its pitfalls. Not complaining...I love to save money, but I also dont pretend to ignore the affects. Its evolution like the Sears Catalogue was king pre 1950. The catalogue died and now Sears is on the ropes.
Its not just because of online purchases. Its mostly upper managment'ss fault. They went private, and Bain Capital saddled them with a ton of debt and they couldnt reinvest back into their stores because of there insane loan payments. Think the scene in goodfellas when they run up the tab on the restaurant and then it closes. Same exact thing. Freaking sucks. And then they get "bonuses" on top of that? Drives me insane. How many employees could that have benefited? Corporate greed is mind boggling.
 

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